Tech-a-Byte: tech news for the week

September 20, 2016 05:45 pm | Updated November 01, 2016 07:48 pm IST - Bangalore

Google acquires a new company, GoPro launches a drone, and more in tech this week

Moto E3 Power

Moto E3 Power

Moto E3 Power launched

After upgrading its mid-range G line of devices with the G4 Play a couple of weeks ago, Moto has now launched the latest entrant in their entry-level E series, the E3 Power. The phone comes with a 5-inch 720p display, 1 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable via microSD.

Though the specs are par for the course in the segment, Moto has given the E3 Power some essential features, the most handy of which is the beefy 3,500 mAh battery, which when combined with the lower clocked processor and HD display should provide ample battery life. To sweeten the deal, the phone is fast charge capable with the company’s Turbo charger. Android 6.0 handles the software side of things and the phone also has basic splash proofing.

As an added future proofing measure, the E3 Power comes equipped with VoLTE technology, making it compatible with Reliance Jio and future VoLTE-based networks. The E3 Power is available on Flipkart at Rs. 7,999.

Google acquires API.AI

In a major move, Mountain View-based search giant Google has acquired API.AI, a company that specialises in conversational user interfaces. The technologies developed by API.AI have already been deployed in multiple chatbots, enabling them to interpret human conversation and understand commands.

The acquisition is likely to benefit Google across multiple arenas, as the company has been working on home automation systems, software for wearables and more, besides using voice recognition for Google Search. The combination of the company's voice and intent recognition and conversation management with Google's own Knowledge Graph and resources is bound to be a shot in the arm for upcoming products like chat application Allo, which analyses conversations and generates possible responses.

GoPro now has a drone

Portable action camera manufacturer GoPro, whose cameras have been widely used in action and drone photography, has unveiled their own drone. The drone, which is called Karma, uses a 3-axis gimbal which also comes in handy when the device is being held in the hand. The Karma supports GoPro's Hero 4 series of cameras, as well as the newly launched Hero 5 series, of which the top end Hero 5 Black is capable of recording 4K video at 30 fps.

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